By Jordan Long
The Houston Rockets have their new Head Coach in Stephen Silas. The Rockets are finalizing a deal with him. The financial terms haven’t been announced.
The Rockets had a Head Coaching opening since Mike D’Antoni stepped down on September 15th. D’Antoni was with the Rockets since the start of the 2016 season. Houston was one of the best teams in the regular season going 217-101 under him, a winning percentage of .682. The Rockets advanced to the playoffs every year under D’Antoni.
When it came to the playoffs, the Rockets always moved on to the 2nd round. The furthest they went was the Western Conference Finals in 2018 but were beaten by the Golden State Warriors in 7 games.
This year the Rockets ended 44-28, 4th in the Western Conference. They knocked off the Oklahoma City Thunder in 7 games before falling to the L.A. Lakers in 5 games in the 2nd-round. After the loss, D’Antoni felt it was time to move on from the Rockets. When that happened, Houston started a coaching search.
There were plenty of candidates out there including Kenny Atkinson, David Fizdale, Jason Kidd, and Lue Williams. All of them have NBA head coaching experience. Williams was hired by the L.A. Clippers so that took him out of the running for the job. Kenny Atkinson, David Fizdale, and Jason Kidd were still available. In the end, the Rockets went with the surprising hire of Stephen Silas.
Silas has plenty of NBA background. He never played in the NBA but has been an assistant coach since 2000. He has bounced around the league being an assistant coach. The franchises he was with are the Hornets, Cleveland Cavaliers, Golden State Warriors, and Dallas Mavericks.
The Rockets are taking a risk with him since he hasn’t been an NBA Head Coach. He knows the game of basketball. The Rockets have talent on this team to make it deep in the NBA playoffs with Russell Westbrook, James Harden, Eric Gordon, and P.J. Tucker. They can play offense and defense. Silas wants to help them become an NBA Championship team.
The Rockets haven’t been to an NBA Finals since the 1995 season. That was the second year of their back-to-back championships. Silas has his work cut out for him. The Rockets will be patient with him. If they don’t win a title or at least reach an NBA Finals in the next 4 years, Silas could be out of a job.
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